


Wyrm

by EchoFour



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Corrupted Steven Universe, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Trust, WORM THEORY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 03:44:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20923625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoFour/pseuds/EchoFour
Summary: Steven had always been too insular. Connie knew this, had always known it. And yet she still was not prepared.“He’s changed.”“He’s corrupted.”“He’s not Steven anymore.”Connie reacts the way she knows she must. If no one else will help Steven, she'll face him alone.Steven is hurting, and Connie needs to help. Based on the somewhat-popular theory about the worm monster in the SUF opening.





	Wyrm

**Author's Note:**

> This is much rougher than I normally allow stories to be. I sat down this morning and decided that I would try my hand at fleshing out some ideas tossed around in Discord last night, and this was the result.
> 
> I submit it for your perusal.

Steven had always been too insular. Connie knew this, had always known it. And yet she still was not prepared.

“He’s changed.”

“He’s corrupted.”

“He’s not Steven anymore.”

Her first reaction was fear. Corruption? To Steven? If he was part of the cure, how could it ever happen to him? How could it ever be  _ fixed? _

Next came sorrow. Because if he had done it to himself, had let his feelings bottle up until they had turned on him and changed him, how had she missed it for so long? How could she let it come to this?

Then anger. How dare they say he wasn’t Steven? Had they not seen him get through to Nephrite when she was corrupted? Had they already forgotten all their  _ friends _ who had been where he was and been rescued? 

How dare they believe he couldn’t be saved.

And so she reached resolution. If they wouldn’t do it, then she would.

Pearl refused to let her anywhere near him. Garnet and Amethyst wouldn’t,  _ couldn’t _ face him like this. Garnet was all but splitting in two.

So she asked Peridot to take her there.

* * *

The Strawberry Battlefield. Of course this is where he would go. Where else did one go to feel crushing despair?

The ground rumbled, quaking just from his movements. There was no need to search for Steven. He was  _ colossal _ . Visible from half a mile away. It was impossible to believe at first; how could small, cute, wonderful Steven turn into  _ that? _

Then the wyrm raised its head and roared. It wasn’t a roar of defiance or anger or even fear. It tore at her heart, terrifying though it was. Because it wasn’t a roar at all. It was a scream of anguish. And she could see the face, see just enough of Steven in the shape, in the tiny details, to know it could be no one else.

“You’re really going to go talk to that?” Peridot whispered anxiously. “Are you sure?”

“Of course.” Connie forced down all the fear, all the instincts that nothing that big could be good or safe or anything but a monster. Everything else she forced down, until she could turn to Peridot, smile and say the one thing she believed above all else. “It’s Steven. Steven would never hurt me.”

Peridot trembled, but she couldn’t make herself follow as Connie began to march towards Steven. And that was okay. She trusted enough to bring Connie here. That was more than enough.

She was unarmed and alone. Her nerves frayed, and every step was like walking through quicksand in an earthquake. Her brain was flooding so much adrenaline into her body that her hands shook from it. And yet she walked forward. Not running, nothing to look like a threat. She hadn’t brought her sword, not even to leave at the warp pad. It’s not like it would matter. He was the size of a small town. He could encircle the whole of Beach City and still leave room for the temple. There was no fighting that.

And there would be no fighting, anyway. Because no matter his form, or his size, or his power or threat, Connie would never hurt Steven either.

It took fifteen minutes just to get close enough to his head that she thought he might hear her. She began to call out to him. “Steeeeeveeeeen!” Her voice was hoarse from hours of crying. Her throat burned. And that didn’t matter at all. “Come here! Come to me!”

The quaking stopped as the wyrm--no, not a wyrm, not a monster,  _ Steven _ \--turned to face her. He reared high, looking down at her, and far faster than anything that big had any right to be, he charged at her.

He let out a roar. His spikes (or were they thorns?) were covered in red.  _ Strawberry juice _ , her mind told her.  _ Blood, blood, fear, run, run before it’s your blood too, _ her instincts screamed. The ground heaved and trembled, and it took all her will just to stay standing. She closed her eyes.

_ Flexibility, love, and trust. _

She fell to her knees, the ground shaking too much to bear, but still she waited and prayed. She would not run.

And the shaking stopped.

When she opened her eyes, the face was before her. No anger, no rage. Just sorrow so deep that even with the face of a monster, she could still feel him in it.

“Steven. It’s me! You remember me?” She struggled back to her feet and stepped toward him. She didn’t even come up to his mouth. A wind swept up behind her, blowing her hair towards Steven. It took a moment to realize that he had just taken a breath.

His mouth opened, revealing teeth bigger than her, sharper than swords, deadlier than the Diamonds.

“ **Kaahhhhh. Neeeeeee.** ”

She sobbed with relief and ran forward to touch him, just to feel him and let him feel her back. “It’s me, Steven. It’s Connie. I’m here.”

“ **Huuuuurts.** ”

“I know, Steven. I know it does. But it’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna fix this.”

Her ears rang as he let out a keening cry, and tears the size of small bonds flooded down his monstrous face, seeping into the soil of the battlefield.

“What happened, Steven? What made you like this?”

He just kept crying. And of course that was the answer. If the grief of three diamonds could corrupt a planet, surely the self-hate of one alone was enough to corrupt a single gem.

Tears welled up at the thought of how much grief he must have carried for things to go this far.

“It’s alright, Steven.” She pressed her face to his, letting her tiny tears mingle with his. “I know. I’m here for you.”

* * *

Fixing the problem turned out to be easier than they could have hoped. With Connie to calm him, Steven wasn’t a threat. He needed the essence of four diamonds to heal. He already had one, and the other three wasted no time in rushing to save their beloved Steven. They touched him, and he drew further and further in, the huge body dwindling down until all that was left were Steven and Connie cradled in the palms of the diamonds, locked in a tight embrace as he sobbed into her chest.

The hard part wasn’t fixing the corruption. It was making sure it wouldn’t happen again.

She took him up to the hand on the temple to talk.

“I just… wanted to get away.” He was balled up, his knees tight to his chest. He had to be careful. Not all of the thorns had gone away when he returned to himself. His teeth had kept a bit of their sharpness, and horns jutted from his forehead and his arms. She wondered if they hurt him.

She wondered if he was  _ letting _ them hurt him.

“And what happened when you did?” She didn’t accuse, didn’t blame. She just asked.

“I just… couldn’t stop thinking about stuff. The people who got hurt. All the close calls. All the times we almost got killed. You almost got killed.” He drew in tighter. “It was just too much.”

“You’ve never talked about this, Steven.” She put a hand on his back, and he relaxed a tiny bit.

“I didn’t want to. You’ve always helped me. Everything’s always about helping me.”

“You’ve got a lot of problems, Steven. It’s okay if you need a lot of help.” She hugged him. “I love you. I love helping you and seeing you happy.”

“I don’t want to be a burden.”

“You’re not a burden, Steven. You help me too. I just… my life isn’t as exciting or unstable. But you always help when I need it. And I want to help you when you need it, too. We all do.” She took his arms and gently unwrapped them from around him. Just as she suspected, there were tiny pinpricks on his legs. She touched his lips with a finger and tapped each one to heal them.

He flushed. “You didn’t have to do that. They’re just part of me now. I’ve gotta get used to them.”

“I wanted to.” She hugged him, careful to avoid the thorns. She’d already learned exactly where to place her hands. She never wanted him to feel like he’d hurt her.

“Are you sure I’m worth the effort?” He mumbled into her shoulder.

She squeezed all the tighter, blinking back tears. “Of course you are, Steven. You’re amazing. You’ve done so much for so many people.”

“But everyone’s moving on. They don’t need me anymore.” He trembled in her arms.

“They want you. They love you. And even if they don’t need you… _I_ _do,_ Steven. I need you with me. I don’t know who I’d be without you. And I don’t want to find out.” She turned her head to kiss his cheek. “Please let your family help you, Steven. I know it’s not easy. But you need it. And no one wants you to hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” he choked out. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone else. I just couldn’t take it. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t know. It’s okay. I’m here.”

Connie held him and whispered love and hope and courage to him. And eventually, with time, he started to whisper back, baring himself to her, letting her feel his fears and know his doubts. And they took the first step forward together.

For now, that was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to say that I don't personally fully believe the "Giant Worm is Corrupted Steven" theory, but it does have some merit, and it's certainly interesting to discuss. If the show comes along and josses it right away, then this fic will stand as a monument to the ridiculous things fandoms create when given next to no information after months of waiting.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it regardless.


End file.
